Totally twisted

Gastro pub sports bar shakes things up with new menu and its monthly challenges

If you think you can beat this month’s Twisted Lime Challenge, think about consuming a burger with
four eight-ounce meat patties on fully dressed buns with all the trimmings and fixings, complete with
one pound of French fries loaded with cheese, chili and jalapeños and a pickle, with a liter of soda which
has to be consumed within 13 minutes. If you do, your meal is free. PHOTOS; JAMES GALANTIS

If you haven’t been to Twisted Lime Restaurant & Sports Bar in the last month, well it’s time to make a return visit, because the powers that be at the restaurant are truly showing that they are truly twisted. And with a new chef at the helm in Simeon Hall Jr. they’ve shaken things up, from not only the menu, by removing all food items that were not fresh in their foundation, to the introduction of their monthly Twisted Challenge.

And to be honest, the Twisted Challenge has been a big draw because when someone takes it on, the entire restaurant stops to take notice.

This month, the Twisted Lime Challenge showcases four, eight-ounce meat patties on fully dressed buns with all the trimmings and fixings, complete with one pound of French fries loaded with cheese, chili and jalapeños and a pickle, with a liter of soda which has to be consumed within 13 minutes.

To date, nine people have attempted the belly-busting challenge – only one person defeated the restaurant’s dementedness. The other eight people were defeated by the clock and the meal, and had to pony up to pay for that expensive burger which cost $50. Winners of the challenge eat for free and are given a Twisted Lime tee-shirt, and a signed certificate. So far, that one person is the only person to be entered into the grand prize eat-off that will take place during the Super Bowl to try their hand at winning the top prize that has yet to be revealed.

“The Twisted Lime Challenge is really bringing the fun to the restaurant,” said Chef Hall, because whenever we do a challenge, the entire restaurant stops. The customers are all blown away by it. This thing comes out on a half sheet pan. It’s 10 pounds of food,” he said.

In October, people hoping to take the challenge need to be afraid because seeing as it’s the Halloween month, that challenge may just be on the gruesome side.

But it’s events like this that make Twisted Lime gastro pub sports bar more exciting, said Hall, who took over two months ago and changed the menu three weeks ago.

Twisted Lime’s menu now features things like Twisted Blues (blue corn nachos, smoked brisket chili, jalapeños, pico de gallo and a cheddar blend); spinach and artichoke dip, bacon cheddar mac; fried calamari and shrimp and loaded fries (one pound of seasoned house-made French fries, cheese and braised beef gravy) on the appetizer menu. They also offer five flavors of chicken wings and a variety of salads to satisfy any palate.

A variety of flatbreads and sandwiches offer their diners the variety that is the spice of life.

But Hall is even more pleased with the fact that the menu will change with the sporting seasons to reflect the foods that people like to eat while watching their favorite sport, while retaining menu favorites.

“During football season, we’re getting into barbecuing and that kind of menu. When it’s soccer season, we will get into a more European-related specials. When it’s basketball season, we will look to do foot long hot dogs and food for that season. We did not want to be the normal sports bar and that’s why we have a gastro pub style menu,” said Hall.

“We’re doing a themed restaurant based on sports food. If we have 50 items on the menu, they are all bar snack style menu items. Any of those would be your favorite thing that you can eat at your neighborhood bar, and that’s what we’re going for.”

But their number one seller on his new menu is fusion of Bahamian and Mexico as the grouper has met the burrito.

“When you think of a burrito, it has all the ingredients that we put in our grouper dinner — rice, peas, some sort of salad, fried grouper fingers — we wrapped that up in a tortilla, grilled it and served it with a spicy sauce.”

In another twist, Twisted Lime also does not close its kitchen doors as early as most other restaurants around the island. Weekdays the kitchen closes as 12 midnight. During the weekends, the kitchen is open until 1 a.m. The restaurant opens at 11 a.m. daily.